This Way Out: The International LGBTQ Radio Magazine Overnight Productions, Inc.

Laws are being passed — and thugs are being deployed — attempting to shut down drag shows around the world. That’s the news making the headlines, but the backstage news is that drag performers are organizing in protest to protect their art. Qommittee Board President Blaq Dinamyte also talks about being a king in a predominantly drag queen world. (Part Two of a four-part Pride Month series produced by Daniel Huecias.)

And in NewsWrap: Sao Paulo, Brazil’s LGBTQ Pride celebration brings hundreds of thousands of people to downtown for what may be the largest of its kind in the world, the 25th Seoul Queer Culture Festival is capped by a Parade despite government obstruction, Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin wears a rainbow shirt to join more than 200,000 celebrating LGBTQ Pride in Bangkok, queer-supportive former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum becomes the country’s first woman and first Jewish president, a Missouri trans man wins 4.7 million dollars in damages for being denied access to school bathrooms and changing rooms that matched his gender identity, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania sets the Guinness World Record for the largest-ever drag queen story time, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by John Dyer V and Sarah Montague (produced by Brian DeShazor). 

All this on the June 10, 2024 edition of This Way Out!

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One frightening mid-May night in San Diego, California, LGBTQ+ venues Pecs Bar, The Rail, Number One on Fifth Avenue and Rich’s were the targets of a pellet gun shooting spree. Rich’s employee Eddie Reynoso vividly recounts the disturbing incident that led to his being struck in the eye with a gel pellet. As publisher of the LGBTQ San Diego County News and the founder and executive director of the Equality Business Alliance, Reynono talks about queer life in San Diego and the need to remain vigilant in the aftermath of violence. (Part One of a four-part Pride Month series produced by Daniel Huecias.)

And in NewsWrap: private clinics and practitioners in the United Kingdom are being added to the National Health Service ban on dispensing puberty blockers to patients under the age of 18, adults who help minors leave Tennessee to access gender-affirming care or abortions can now go to jail, a U.S. federal judge rules that New Hampshire’s restrictions on classroom discussions involving LGBTQ people or race violate free speech rights, U.S. National Park Service employees can continue celebrating LGBTQ Pride in uniform this year, an Idaho drag queen wins more than a million dollars in a defamation lawsuit against a rabidly right-wing blogger, Karla Sofía Gascón becomes the first trans woman to win the Best Actress trophy at the Cannes Film Festival, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Melanie Keller and Michael LeBeau (produced by Brian DeShazor). 

All this on the June 3, 2024 edition of This Way Out!

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Forty-five years ago the shocking verdict in the murder of gay San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk and ally Mayor George Moscone sent the queer community and its journalists into the streets, where they were destined for a historic confrontation with police.

Dr. Tanya D. Zuk of the Department of Media Arts at the University of North Texas reflects on the significance of White Night.

And in NewsWrap: the death of transgender Argentinian Sofia Fernández in police custody originally called a suicide is now a case of murder by asphyxiation with 10 officers under arrest, the U.S. Supreme Court declines the case of religious parents who object to their Maryland school district’s support for trans and gender-nonconforming students, Colorado’s Republican Party accuses Democrats of attempting “to turn more kids trans” and urges parents to take their children out of public school, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry is expected to sign a “don’t say gay” bill, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signs a ban on banning books for ideological reasons, Asher HaVon becomes the first queer winner on "The Voice,” and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Kalyn Hardman and Marco Najera (produced by Brian DeShazor). 

All this on the May 27, 2024 edition of This Way Out!

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Three short films — “Making Men” (Belgium, Zimbabwe), “Papi” (USA) and “Love Taps” (USA) — add a queer perspective as the New York African Film Festival explores the intersection of historical and contemporary people on the continent and among the diaspora, under the theme “Convergence in Time” (John Dyer V reports).

We open the lesbian and gay wedding album 20 years after the first same-gender couples in the U.S. legally march down the aisle in Massachusetts, and see where some of the key players are now.

And in NewsWrap: Peru’s rightwing President Dina Boluarte signs a declaration defining what it calls “transsexualism” and “other gender identity disorders” as mental illnesses, the Tory government circulates a draft document that would bar British public school teachers from discussing “the concept of gender identity,” Liechtenstein’s parliament approves a bill to open marriage to same-gender couples, warnings of potential terrorist violence at upcoming June Pride month celebrations are issued by three U.S. security agencies, plaintiff religious parents in Maryland’s Montgomery County lose another ruling in their bid to keep their children out of classes with LGBTQ-related content, Georgia transgender deputy Anna Lange’s anti-discrimination claim is costing the county Sheriff’s Office many times more than her gender-affirming care would, the Long Island Roller Rebels team up with the New York Civil Liberties Union to defeat Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s executive order to ban transgender girls and women from competing in gender appropriate sports, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by David Hunt and John Dyer V (produced by Brian DeShazor). 

All this on the May 20, 2024 edition of This Way Out!

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Broadway’s 2023-24 season is full of LGBTQ-related plays and musicals. Gay USA’s Andy Humm and guest co-host Merryn Johns offer their thoughts on the hits, the misses and the queer Tony nominees; we add some examples from the shows “Suffs,” “Prayer for the French Republic,” “Merrily We Roll Along,” “Water for Elephants” and “Lempicka” to their astute reviews.

Plus: comedian Dana Goldberg’s wise words about pronouns.

And in NewsWrap: the Czech Constitutional Court overturns sex reassignment surgery and sterilization prerequisites for legal gender changes, thousands protest across France and Belgium an attempt in the French Senate to restrict pediatric gender-affirming healthcare, Tel Aviv’s renowned LGBTQ Pride Parade is canceled in favor of a hope and freedom rally due to the ongoing Gaza war, the Boy Scouts of America re-brands itself with the more inclusive name “Scouting America,” South Carolina’s Republican Governor Henry McMaster is expected to sign a bill denying puberty blockers and hormone therapies to trans people under 18, Mississippi’s Republican legislative majority defines gender as the sex assigned at birth for bathroom admittance, Rhode Island is poised to protect medical professionals who provide gender-affirming healthcare and abortion services, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Michael Taylor-Gray and Melanie Keller (produced by Brian DeShazor). 

All this on the May 13, 2024 edition of This Way Out!

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The world’s best-known memoirist whose the long series of books about his horrible and hilarious life began with “Running with Scissors” and “Dry.” Augusten Burroughs talks about writing, living and queering the memoir form. (Interviewed by Steve Pride.)

And in NewsWrap: the United Methodist Church ends its 40-year ban on queer clergy and opens its doors to same-gender weddings, a Mombassa court orders a halt to anti-queer protests and incitement to violence by groups opposed to LGBTQ equality, Queensland expands its Anti-Discrimination Act to cover gender diversity and decriminalizes sex work, a U.S. appeals court rules that state-funded healthcare plans must include coverage for gender-affirming treatments and surgeries, the Biden administration reinstates protections from the denial of care based on sexual orientation or gender identity under the Affordable Care Act, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission updates its regulations to better protect transgender workers from harassment and discrimination, two Mississippi anti-trans rights bills die of Republican infighting in the state legislature, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Ava Davis and Joe Boehnlein (produced by Brian DeShazor). 

All this on the May 6, 2024 edition of This Way Out!

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